Whatever Happens, I Have You
by Cooplotte
Summary: As they face the next chapter in their lives, Cooper and Charlotte continue to realize that they will always have the other - whatever happens.
1. Chapter 1

Lexie Grey comes out of the OR double doors and spots Cooper, Charlotte, and Mason in the waiting room. Cooper's the first one to see her and he quickly stands up.

"What's going on? Were you able to do it?" he asks anxiously.

"Yes. But as we said earlier, that was only part of the procedure. Dr. Shepherd is continuing the rest of the procedure right now and it could take another five to six hours. I just wanted to update you."

"Right, of course. Please update us again when you can."

Lexie nods her head in agreement, gives a faint smile, and heads back to the OR.

* * *

><p>By now, Charlotte's made her way towards Cooper and envelopes him in a hug. Cooper's obviously relieved as he melts into her arms and returns the embrace. When they part from one another, they look at the sleeping form of Mason spread across the waiting room chairs.<p>

"He looks so peaceful. "

Charlotte nods her head in agreement as she caresses the back of his hand.

Cooper turns to look at her now, cups the side of her face and gives a weak smile. "I just want to protect him from all of this. He's witnessing this terrible thing and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Coop, you're here for him. That's all you can really do. Whatever happens, as long as you're there, he'll be okay."

"Do you really believe that?"

She sighs. She's not sure if she actually does but she has to hope. "I have to."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Mason is awake and anxiously tapping on the sides of his chair. Cooper takes a hold of his knee and just smiles at him. He's hoping beyond hope that it'll be enough to ease him a bit. Charlotte watches from across the room and she gives them a faint smile. She's exhausted. Since the surgery started, she hasn't had the chance to eat, drink, or sleep and the exhaustion is starting to sneak up on her.<p>

Lexie goes through the double doors again and they all get up in unison.

Mason's the first to ask, "Is my mom okay?"

"Right now she's fine. The procedure is almost over and it looks very promising. "

The sighs of relief they give out are so evident that it causes Lexie to smile.

"Thank you," Cooper says and he's almost inclined to hug the doctor in front of him. But he doesn't.

Lexie makes her way back to the OR while Cooper, Charlotte, and Mason are all enveloped in an embrace. They're feeling a lot more hopeful now. When they separate, Cooper's smile is so big next to the faint one that Charlotte has. He notices that she's rather pale and heads to her side.

"Char, are you okay?"

She nods her head while rubbing her temple. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired but I'm fine."

"Are you –"

And before he can finish his question, Charlotte falls into his arms with Mason looking on with a horrified expression on his face.

* * *

><p>Charlotte begins to regain consciousness and Cooper is quickly at her side. She looks around the room confused.<p>

"Char, hey, "he says while stroking the side of her face. "You're okay. You fainted from dehydration but they hooked you up to IV fluids."

She feels too tired to speak so she nods her head.

"They also got some blood to make sure everything else checks out fine. We should get the results in a while."

She nods again. She looks around the room and searches for Mason. She sees two nurses but no Mason. "Mason?" she asks.

"He's right outside. Don't worry about him."

"Go back to the waiting room with him," she insists. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

She takes his hand in hers and rubs the back of it. "Yes, I'm sure," she insists again. "Go. I'll come find you when I finish this bag and get the test results back."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"I am," she says. "Mason needs you now more than I do."

"Okay. I love you," he says as he kisses the top of her head.

She gives him a soft smile, nods her head, and sees him off.

* * *

><p>Minutes later, Charlotte is half asleep when she hears the sound of the door open and is woken up by it. An Asian doctor with a scowl on her face approaches to check her bag of fluids and rechecks her IV.<p>

"You should probably work on your bedside manner," she says with her Southern accent more apparent than ever.

The doctor looks up from Charlotte's chart. It isn't the first time she's heard it from a patient but she didn't need to hear it today.

"I'm Dr. King, Chief of Staff of St. Ambrose in LA. So I know a thing or two about doctors and their bedside manner."

The doctor just nods and continues to jot things down on the chart.

Charlotte's starting to feel exasperated. She takes a breath, looks at the doctor in front of her, sees the tension in her face, and starts to fear the worst.

"Did something come back abnormal in my blood tests?" she asks.

"Oh, no. Everything's fine," she says while closing the chart. "I'm sorry if I made you think that."

"It's fine. It's that bedside manner of yours that you should really be apologizing for."

She nods. "Right, I apologize," she says while clicking her pen and tucking it into her lab coat's pocket. "I'm Dr. Yang. Anyway, I have your blood results here. Everything is normal except your hCG levels are relatively high which, I'm sure you know as a Chief of Staff, means that you're pregnant."

Charlotte's mind pauses. As if it's trying to process what this doctor just told her but her mind literally isn't working. She takes a deep breath and looks back at the doctor in front of her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she hands Charlotte the sheet of paper containing her results. "You can look at these numbers yourself."

She scans through the sheet, reads that all the numbers are within normal range, and then stops abruptly when she sees her hCG. She's pregnant.

"I should probably do an ultrasound now."

"What?"

"An ultrasound," she repeats. "I should probably do one seeing as how you were dehydrated. To make sure that everything is fine."

She swallows noticeably obviously still trying to process what's going on. "Right, an ultrasound, "she nods. "Go ahead."


	2. Chapter 2

Her alarm goes off and she rolls to Cooper's side of the bed only to find it empty. She sighs. It's been a week since they got back from Seattle. Erica's recovery is slower than they expected and aside from the passionate sex they had last night, Cooper's barely been home. She closes her eyes again hoping to get a few minutes of sleep before her alarm rings again. Before her minutes are up, she feels an unexpected weight on the mattress and grunts.

"Morning, sweetie. Your alarm went off already," he says before kissing the top of her head.

She grunts some more before replying, "Mhmm. I know. I hit the snooze. I thought you left to go see Erica and Mason."

"I did. I was just there but I forgot I brought home one of Mason's books the other night so I'm picking it up now before bringing him to school."

"Alright," she says while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I'll just see you at work later then."

"Actually, I might not make it to work until the afternoon. I was thinking of going back to Erica's and setting up everything the night nurse might need later."

"What about your patients?" she asks.

"Don't worry about it. I cancelled my patients for this morning but I kept the ones in the afternoon. I just have to leave work a little earlier today because Mason doesn't have practice later."

"Alright, I'll see you later then."

"I'll see you later," he kisses the top of her head then he's off.

A minute or two later, her alarm rings again and she's forced to prepare for the day. She gets up, feels her head go a little light, and lies back down. She's suddenly starting to feel a little nauseous. She takes deep breaths while waiting for the nausea to pass but it doesn't seem to be working. She feels liquid climbing up her throat and makes a run for it to the toilet.

After the bout of nausea seems to have passed, she leans on the bathroom wall and takes deeper breaths. Minutes later, she stands up, makes it to the kitchen, and pours herself a glass of water.

It's been a week since they've been home which means it's also been a week since she found out she was pregnant. This was the first time she's showed any symptoms of it.

Charlotte puts her glass down, feels her head go a little light again, and realizes it's time for her to see Addison.

* * *

><p>After her last patient for the morning, Charlotte heads to Addison's office to check if she's available. From a distance she can tell that Addison's office door is wide open which should be a good sign. She looks around to check if anyone might see her, realizes the ghost is clear, and enters the redhead's office.<p>

"Addison," she says while closing the door behind her.

Addison lifts her head upon hearing her colleague's voice. "Charlotte, what's up?"

"I – I – well, I need an ultrasound."

The redhead looks straight into the blonde's eyes as if to make sure she heard that right. Charlotte's face is both tense and vulnerable so she can tell how serious she is. "Alright. Let's head to an exam room and check everything out."

Charlotte opens the door for them and follows Addison to Exam Room 2. Both say nothing to each other on the way there and while Charlotte changes into a gown.

"Okay Charlotte, get on the exam table and let's take a look."

She does as she's told, puts an arm behind her head to prop her up, and takes a deep breath.

Addison wheels the ultrasound machine close to them and turns it on. She squeezes a bit of ultrasound gel onto Charlotte's belly and it causes her to shudder. The machine takes a few minutes to start up and it forces some small talk between the two.

Addison sighs, looks at a nervous Charlotte, and asks, "So, when did you find out?"

Charlotte doesn't look at her when she replies, "Uhmm. A week ago, when we were in Seattle."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I fainted from dehydration. They hooked me up to IV fluids, did a blood test, and the results showed high hCG levels, so here I am."

"You fainted and they didn't do an ultrasound?" she questions.

Charlotte hesitates a little before answering. "No, they did. A Dr. Yang checked me out and said everything was fine. I'll feel better hearing it from you though."

"Yang, huh?"

"Yeah, is that problem? Is she a flop or something?"

"Oh no, Yang's great. Probably the best surgical resident there. It's just that she's always been focused on cardio so seeing her take on OB is definitely different."

"She was probably on call for the ER," she replies.

By now Addison's checked everything that needed checking and realized the small talk relieved the blonde's nerves quite a bit.

"Everything looks great, Charlotte. Take a look."

Charlotte turns her head to the monitor and sees her baby's heart on the screen flickering. She's at a complete loss for words but can feel tears starting to form in her eyes. It wasn't the first time she's seen the baby but there was something about seeing it without the shock of it all.

"Everything's okay? The heartbeat and all?" she asks.

"Heartbeat's perfect and everything's right on track for seven weeks."

Charlotte lets out a sigh of relief then rubs both her eyes before letting tears escape from them. "Thanks, Addison."

"Of course," she says with a smile. "Let me write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins and print you out a few pictures."

"That'll be great, thanks," she hesitates for a while before continuing but decides to say it anyway. "By the way, please don't tell anyone about this yet. Especially not Cooper."

"Cooper doesn't know yet?"

"No. I'll tell him soon. Things are pretty hectic right now because of Erica's recovery and how Mason's dealing with all of it. When our lives start to resemble normal again, I'll tell him about it."

Addison nods and hands her the prescription and ultrasound printouts. "Alright, my lips are sealed."

"Thanks, Addison."

"You're welcome. And congratulations, Charlotte."

Charlotte pauses, smiles, and says "Thank you," before leaving the room.


	3. Chapter 3

It's been another long day and Charlotte can definitely feel it. She's not even going to deny it anymore. She's tired. By the time she gets home, she doesn't expect to find Cooper there since he mentioned he'd drop by Erica and Mason's first. So she makes her way through the door, drops her coat and purse in their respective place, then pretty much drops dead on the sofa.

"Finally," she whispers.

All she's wanted to do all day was to lie down. She's a doctor so she knows that the exhaustion's normal. But god, she didn't think she'd feel this tired so early on. She rests her head on a throw pillow, exhales, and instinctively places one hand on her still flat belly.

Moments later, she hears the shuffling of keys and quickly sits up. She grabs her phone to check the time.

"Shit," she mutters.

She didn't realize she had fallen asleep for an hour. Doctors really need to be more specific when they talk about pregnancy and the exhaustion that comes with it because she didn't expect this at all.

Cooper walks into the loft and makes his way to the couch. He and his bag fall simultaneously on the sofa and floor respectively.

"How are Erica and Mason?" she asks.

"Still the same. I left a little while after the night nurse came so they should be okay for the night. But I'm worried about Mason."

"He'll be okay, Coop. He's been doing okay since the night nurse came in."

"I know the night nurse is working out but it's still difficult for him."

Charlotte takes his hand in hers and sort of forces him to look into her eyes. "Coop, whether it's you or the night nurse staying over, it'll still be difficult for him. It's a difficult situation all together."

He sighs. "I know. I just wish things could get better sooner."

"They will."

"How about you? How was your day?"

"It was a long one," she sighs. "Actually, I was thinking of taking a shower already. Let's continue this talk after?"

"Sure, sweetie," he says before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

She smiles and slowly gets up then makes her way to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>By the time she's done showering, brushing her teeth, flossing, and slipping into her sweats, she opens the door to the bedroom hoping to find Cooper there. But the bed is empty and she feels a tinge of disappointment. She makes her way closer to the room division and can hear Cooper's voice from a slight distance.<p>

"_It's okay, buddy. You and your mom will be okay tonight. Nurse Suzie's there and she's been taking really good care of you guys, right?"_

She sighs. Mason's obviously still distraught about the whole situation and wants Cooper over there. Now she's feeling rather selfish. She decides to just head to bed and wait for him there so she can talk to him about Erica, Mason, and hopefully, the pregnancy.

It's about a half hour later when Cooper gets off the phone and he spots Charlotte's sleeping figure spread across the center of their bed. He smiles faintly and heads towards her. He places a soft kiss on her cheek and whispers, "I love you," then goes about his own nightly routines.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Charlotte rises before her alarm as she's awaken by the now familiar feeling of nausea. She spends the next twenty minutes glued to the bathroom floor and holding on desperately to the sides of the porcelain toilet. After she's sure she's done being sick, she slowly gets up and heads for the sink. She gurgles some mouthwash to get the taste of vomit out of her mouth and spots a post – it on the mirror.<p>

"_Sorry. Headed out early to check on Mason and Erica. See you at work. Love, Cooper."_

She smiles but sighs almost immediately after. The past two and a half weeks have been hectic to say the least. And it doesn't help that she's been getting sick for most of it and feels exhausted by the middle of the day.

She decides to shrug her feelings away. After all, her family needed her to suck it up.

* * *

><p>It's three o' clock in the afternoon and despite her best efforts to fight against it, Charlotte has submitted to the exhaustion and is now on her office couch taking a nap.<p>

Amelia enters her office and has a quizzical look upon seeing the sleeping blonde. She takes a step closer and whispers, "Charlotte," but gets no response. Eventually, she lightly nudges her until she grunts in obvious annoyance.

"You okay?" Amelia asks.

"I was until you woke me up."

"Seriously, are you okay? Are you sick?" she asks while placing the back of her hand on Charlotte's forehead.

"I'm not sick," she replies. The annoyance still evident in her tone.

"Then what is it?"

Charlotte slowly sits up, looks at her friend in the eyes, and sighs deeply.

"I'm pregnant."

"Wow. That's great," she says. And then pauses as she studies her friend's face. "It's great, right?"

She shrugs.

Amelia makes her way to the spot next to Charlotte on the couch where she's obviously needed.

"What's up, Charlotte? Are you not happy about this?"

She sighs; unsure if she can have this conversation but is pretty sure she needs to at least talk to someone about this.

"To be honest, I haven't really had the time to be happy."

Amelia simply nods. As if to signal that she should keep going and she would keep listening.

"I want to be happy. I mean, god, I'm having a baby. I made a baby with the man that I love. But I'm scared, Amelia. And for so many reasons," she hesitates a bit before going on. "I found out when we were in Seattle. You'd think that Erica making it through the surgery would make things easier but recovery's a bitch. It's taking its toll on her, Mason, Cooper, and eventually on me. This just – it just doesn't feel like the right time for this. And I feel like it's not fair to Cooper."

"How is this not fair to Cooper? I think he'd be thrilled to know that you're pregnant."

"I want him to be thrilled, Amelia. But right now, I'm not sure he will be. He has more than enough to worry about."

"Charlotte, I might not know Cooper like you do or even all that well, but I think I know him enough to say he'll be thrilled. No matter what's going on in your lives, he'll be thrilled."

She sighs before responding, "I really hope so, Amelia because I'm scared. And I need him. I wasn't exactly ready for this yet and I just need – I just need my husband to tell me everything will be fine. And that I can do this."

"Well, I might not be your husband, but let me tell you, everything will be fine. And I have no doubt that you can do this."

She smiles faintly and wipes a few tears that came out of nowhere. "Oh damn it. These damn hormones have me looking like some crazy weeping lady."

Amelia chuckles for a while before asking, "Could the crazy hormonal weeping lady use a hug right now?"

"She definitely could but don't tell anyone she said that."

Amelia envelopes her in a hug then whispers, "Just tell him, Charlotte. He'll be there for you. You just need to give him the chance."

She doesn't respond. She just nods her head, wipes away another tear that managed to escape, and realizes her friend is right.


	4. Chapter 4

Cooper's lying down on the couch playing a game on his iPad. After shuffling from Erica and Mason to the office and back to Erica and Mason for the nth time, he's finally home again at a decent hour. Ever since Charlotte hired the night nurse he's been grateful. Obviously he wants to be there for his son as much as he can but he can't deny how exhausting it can get. Luckily, tonight, Suzie came in earlier and both Erica and Mason were settled in so it gave him the chance to head home early.

A few minutes later, Charlotte arrives at the loft and he can tell she's grateful to see him home before her. After all, it's been a while since that's happened. She drops her coat and purse in their respective places and makes her way to the spot on the couch that he's vacated for her. He puts the iPad away and just holds her hand as she leans her head on his shoulder.

"How was your day?" he asks.

"Long and exhausting. Yours?"

"Same. But I'm glad I was able to make it home earlier tonight."

She lifts her head to look at him just to say, "I'm grateful you're here".

He smiles faintly while looking at her and moving his hand up and down her thigh. God, he's missed moments like this.

"I'm sorry I was caught up on the phone last night and I left early again this morning."

"It's okay. I know Mason probably needed you."

"He did. But everything's better now. He said it himself that he should be fine for the rest of the night since there's a Pokemon marathon on."

Charlotte smiles knowing that she could probably tell him about her news tonight. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Well, I was thinking we could order in tonight," he says. "What are you in the mood for?"

"I've been craving Chinese."

"Chinese it is then."

"Could you call in the order? I was hoping to shower and change into my sweats."

"Sure, sweetie," he says as he kisses the top of her head.

She smiles and makes her way to the next room.

* * *

><p>After slipping into her sweats, she heads to the living room and is relieved at the sight in front of her. Cooper's sprawled across the couch again wearing his "GYM" tee, iPad in hand. She makes his way toward him and just like earlier, he sits up to make space for her and puts the gadget away.<p>

"Called in our order so it should be here in a while," he informs.

"Great. I'm starving."

"So am I."

There's a moment of silence and she shifts uncomfortably in her seat. She knows that this is the time to tell him. She was feeling hesitant though. And then she remembered what Amelia had told her earlier. She had to give him the chance to be there.

"Coop," she says. "I need to tell you something."

He shifts his position so that he could face her then puts a lock of her damp hair behind her ear before saying, "What is it, Char?"

"Well," she shallows midway. "It's actually something I've been meaning to tell you but I couldn't find the right time to. Or I thought there just hasn't been a right time."

Now he's more curious. "What is it? Tell me."

She looks deeply into his eyes as if she's searching for some kind of signal to tell her to keep going. She cups the side of his face and sees affection in the way he's looking at her. She takes a deep breath and lets it out.

"I'm pregnant."

He doesn't say anything. He just looks deeper into her eyes then feels a tear falling down from one of his own. And then it's as if his lips are curving into a smile on their own.

"Are you happy about this?" she asks quietly.

He moves closer towards her, puts both his hands on her hips so that he's really holding her then says, "God, Char. I am more than happy right now."

She lets out a significant exhale and doesn't realize a few tears have escaped from her eyes until Cooper's thumb is brushing them away from her cheeks. She lets out a soft chuckle because that's how relieved she feels at this moment.

"You really are?" she asks just for a sense of security.

"I don't even know how you could ask me that. Of course I am, sweetie."

She smiles and leans in to give him a soft kiss on the lips. Then he returns it with one so delicate and sweet that it makes almost every part of her tingle.

"Do you know how far along you are?" he asks when they part.

"Almost nine weeks," she says. "Actually, I have ultrasound pictures if you want to –"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I want to see!"

She gets up, makes her way towards her purse on the counter, and then pulls out the sheets of paper containing the first photographs of their child. On her way back to the couch, she sees Cooper looking fondly at her and how he is eagerly eyeing what she's holding. She sits back down beside him and they lean back on the couch admiring the life that they created.

He doesn't see much on the images except the typical blob of a fetus in its early stages of development, but he already finds himself falling in love with what he's seeing. They continue to look through the photos and then he notices the label found on one set: "SG-MW HOSPITAL".

He suddenly looks away from the photos and then back to Charlotte. "You found out when we were in Seattle?"

She's caught off guard by the question that she lets go of the sheets in her hand, shifts position again, and looks down at her fingers.

"Uhmm, yeah. Like I said, I've been meaning to tell you. I just didn't know when."

He sighs and then lifts her chin up so that they're looking at each other again. "You've kept this from me for two weeks, Char? Why?"

"Things have just been really hectic and crazy since we got back. You've been so busy and tired that I don't know," she sighs. "I guess I just didn't want to burden you or become another one of your burdens."

He places the sonogram photos on the coffee table and then holds her by the hips again. He looks deep into her eyes then says, "Charlotte King, you can never be a burden to me. I love you and I already love our baby. Things right now might be crazy but you should know that whatever happens, you have me."

She smiles so big, cups the sides of his face, and then leans in so they could share a passionate kiss.

"I wish you had told me sooner, "he says once they part.

She sighs. "I wish I did too. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Now I know and that's all that matters."

"Now you know."

Then they lean towards one another again for another kiss.

* * *

><p>After he cleans up the dining room counter and throws out the cartons of Chinese take-out, Cooper heads towards the bedroom and stops to take a really good look at Charlotte. She's sitting up with a few pillows propped against her back, reading a book with a red cover, and the light from the bedside lamp is shining perfectly across her face. He doesn't know why exactly but he thinks that he's never seen her as beautiful as she is right now.<p>

She looks up from the page she's reading, sees Cooper standing across from her, and raises her eyebrow slightly. "You comin' to bed or what?"

He just chuckles at that. He makes his way to his side of the bed and underneath the covers. By now, she's put her book away and lowered herself so that she's lying next to him. He moves closer towards her, rips the sheets that are covering her, and then lifts her gray tank top up to reveal her flat belly. He places a soft and delicate kiss on it, whispers "I love you", and stays there for a while.

She plays with his hair while it's planted on her abdomen and smiles. He slightly lifts his head, places another delicate kiss on her belly, and then pulls down her tank top and comforter back to their rightful place. He leans into her to give her a soft kiss on her lips and forehead and in unison; they move closer to one another and just hold each other. They spend the rest of the night in each other's arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Charlotte wakes up the next morning in Cooper's arms. She smiles and feels like she could stay like this forever. She's in a comfortable position, Cooper's holding on to her just the way she likes it, and she just feels good this morning. She shifts a little so she could look into his face. He's sound asleep and she's tempted to place a soft kiss on his lips. But she doesn't. She just wants to look at him peacefully sleeping for a little while longer. After she feels satisfied with all her looking, she starts to lean in towards him.

And then she pauses midway. The nausea of the day has arrived. She slowly flops back down into her pillow and takes deep breathes. She beat it this morning by waking up on her own so maybe she can resist herself from vomiting. She continues to breathe. In and out, she tells herself. But it's useless. She feels the liquid climbing up her throat and quickly makes a run for it to the toilet.

Cooper's awakened by the abrupt movement. He slowly gets up, hears retches coming from the next room, and quickly makes his way there. When he gets there, he sees Charlotte on the bathroom floor with her head almost halfway into the toilet. He quickly gets down on the floor, pulls her hair away from her face, and rubs circles along her back to soothe her. After each of her retches, he softly whispers, "You're okay. Shh. It's okay. You're okay".

When the bout of nausea seems to be over, Charlotte leans in completely on Cooper in a fetal position. Sweat's pouring down her forehead and he wipes it off with his hand then places a soft kiss where his fingers were.

"How long has it been this way?" he asks while softly rubbing her back.

"Give or take a week and a half."

He sighs. "I really wish you told me sooner. I would've been here."

"I don't need your help to get sick and vomit in a toilet, Coop."

"I know you don't need me but it's better now that I'm here, isn't it?"

She slowly lifts her head up to look at him. She can't deny that although this might've been her worst experience with morning sickness so far, having him here is making it much easier. She just gives him a soft smile. "I guess it does."

He kisses her on the forehead again and they stay that way for a few more minutes.

* * *

><p>When he gets to the office, Cooper stops by the kitchen to get a banana and then makes his way to Violet's office.<p>

"You have a minute?" he asks as he closes her office door.

"For you, I have five."

"Well I'm glad to know I'm still special."

They both make their way to her couch, prop their feet up on the coffee table, and look at each other. It was like their signal to one another to start the conversation that the other desperately needed to have.

"So, what's up Coop?"

"Well, to start off, Charlotte's pregnant."

She's not sure she heard that right so she quickly faces him. The huge smile on his face is enough to let her know, she definitely heard the words "Charlotte's pregnant" come out of his mouth.

"Wow, Cooper. That's amazing!"

"I know. It really is. God Vi, I've wanted this for so long."

"I know you have," she says reassuringly.

"I'm just so, so happy. She told me about it last night and we looked through the sonogram pictures and I don't care if it was just some blob in black and white. Now I really know what love at first sight feels like."

"I don't think I've seen you this happy and giddy since –"

"Since Mason?"

"Yeah, probably since you found out about Mason," she nods.

He sighs now and the change in his mood is pretty evident. "She's actually known about the baby for two weeks."

"Two weeks? Why'd she wait that long to tell you about it?"

"Because of Mason and Erica."

She tilts her head to the side in obvious sympathy. "Oh Cooper."

"She said she was afraid to add to my burdens. And even worse, become a burden. I just felt so bad hearing that because all I want to do right now is to take care of her. And I just wish I could've done that from the beginning if she had just told me."

"Well, she was probably thinking about how tired you were while taking care of Erica and Mason. Plus, she knew how much Mason needed you."

"They all need me. Mason's my son and I want to be there for him and that means taking care of his mother. But Charlotte's my wife and she's carrying my child," he sighs. "I just want to be there for everyone. I don't want to let my family down."

Violet reaches for his hand and takes it in hers. "Coop, your heart's always been in the right place. You just have to know who needs it more at different times. Everyone's important, you love all of them. Just make sure you never let them doubt or forget it."

He nods and gives a faint smile but it's obvious to her that a pool of tears is starting to form in his eyes.

She nudges him on the shoulder and says, "Come on. Lighten up! You're having a baby."

He laughs, nods, and gives her a sincere smile this time. "I'm having a baby with the woman I love."

* * *

><p>It's the middle of the day and Charlotte's caught up in a stack of paperwork at St. Ambrose. Her midday exhaustion is kicking in but she's determined to fight it this time. While scribbling her signature on another set of papers, her phone buzzes and she's relieved to see a message from Cooper.<p>

"_Can you get out early tonight?"_

"_Got paperwork to get through but I probably can. Why?"_

"_Let's have dinner out. I'll pick you up from work after checking on Mason and Erica."_

She smiles just reading the message. _"Sounds great. I'll be sure to finish early."_

"_Great. See you later, beautiful."_

She shakes her head upon reading that last one but she can't deny that she's flattered and feeling giddy inside. She looks at the stack in front of her, sighs, but is more determined to get through it as quickly as possible. If fighting the temptation to take a nap means she can get out early to have dinner with her husband, she'll do it.

* * *

><p>Cooper makes his way through the familiar halls of St. Ambrose that lead to Charlotte's office. He opens her door and she's already putting away her belongings. Right on time, he thinks.<p>

"You're right on time", she says.

And he just chuckles at that.

"What?" she asks obviously confused.

"It's like you read my mind."

Now it's her turn to chuckle. She picks up her purse, takes one last look to make sure she hasn't forgotten anything, makes her way around her desk, and then leans in to give him a soft kiss. On their way out, he grabs her coat from the hook, puts it on her, and then leads her out by the waist.

They arrive at a quaint Italian restaurant and the waiter ushers them to their table. Apparently, Cooper had made reservations. After they place their orders, Charlotte just stares at Cooper.

"What?" he asks.

"Why are we having dinner out?"

"Because we're having a baby and we couldn't possibly celebrate that over greasy cartons of Chinese take-out" he smirks.

She smiles at that and looks at him lovingly. "I guess you're right."

"So, I was thinking, it's probably time we got a house."

"What?"

"A house, it's probably time we get one. You wanted to move before but we never got around to it. You mentioned the loft doesn't really have enough room for Mason and it doesn't. And it's definitely not enough for the baby that's on the way."

She looks at him impressed and just nods.

"Well, what do you think?" he asks.

"I think you've been thinking about a lot of things since last night."

He chuckles at that. "I definitely have," he says. "Wouldn't you agree that it's about time we did get a house though?"

"I do. But not right now. We should probably wait until Erica's fully recovered or at least close to that. We've got time before the baby anyway."

"You're right. It's definitely on the "To-do-list" though."

"Oh believe me. I'm sure that list will just pile up over the next few months."

"I know it will and I won't mind," he says reassuringly.

Their food arrives and they continue to talk about getting a house. Their conversation actually goes from what they want in a house to memories of when they first started looking to their favorite memories in the loft.

Charlotte laughs as they reminisce to their first night of bathroom sex. "I didn't expect the tiles to be that cold but it was definitely worth it," she continues as she gulps down the last of her water.

"It definitely was," he adds. "But I'm sure that wherever we move and live the next chapter of our lives, it will be filled with even better memories."

"And more bathroom sex," she adds with a smirk on her face.

He can't help laugh at that. "Definitely more bathroom sex."

They're both looking at each other fondly while waiting for their giggles to fade. And then Cooper feels his phone vibrate and in a second, so does she. They both read messages from Amelia.

"_Erica's at the ER." _


	6. Chapter 6

Cooper and Charlotte are having breakfast when Mason comes into the kitchen. Cooper's the first to get up.

"Hey bud," he says while messing his hair a bit. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not really."

"Well, that's okay," Charlotte says. "Why don't you come over and sit next to me and maybe your dad's waffles will make you feel a bit better."

He smiles faintly at that and then makes his way to the stool next to her. While Cooper fixes him a plate, he looks up at Charlotte and asks, "How was she? You saw her last night before coming home, right?"

"I did. She was the same as when you saw her but she vomited again before I left."

He sighs upon hearing that. "I wish I could see her again."

"I know you do, buddy," Cooper says. "But like I told you, your mom is just protecting you."

Mason just nods. After that, they finish the rest of their meals in relative silence. They were quiet but their thoughts were far from it. No one said it out loud but they were simultaneously thinking and realizing how this would become the new norm of their lives. By the end of the week, this would be their family.

A few minutes later, Cooper and Mason are headed out the door to make sure that neither would be late for school or work.

"Bye sweetie," he says while kissing Charlotte on the cheek. "I'll see you later for lunch."

"I'll see you then," she responds. Then she makes her towards Mason and kisses the top of his head. "I'll see you later too."

He just smiles up at her. "I'll see you later, Charlotte."

* * *

><p>Charlotte finishes updating her last patient file of the day when Cooper strolls into her office for lunch.<p>

"Hey," he says as he puts down the take-out bag of fried chicken that he had brought for them.

"Hey yourself. The food smells good. I've been craving chicken."

"I wasn't sure what you were craving for but I thought chicken would be a safe bet."

She smirks at that. "Well, you know me well."

"I definitely do," he says. "So, were you able to check on Erica while you were at the hospital earlier?"

"I did," she sighs significantly. "It doesn't look good, Coop. She's rapidly getting worse. I mean, I left last night and she was fine. She vomited some blood again but other than that she was ok. I go over there this morning and she can barely move the lower half of her body."

"God, that sounds so horrible. I'll go over there later."

"Prepare yourself because it isn't a pretty sight. It's hard to keep Mason away but it's right to protect him. I don't know what I'd do if I had to see my momma like that even at this age."

"I know what you mean, I wouldn't know what to do either," he says as he chews on his chicken. He wipes his mouth with a napkin and then continues. "Anyway, I'll stay with her later tonight. You should go home after work."

"It's fine with me if I stay with her a little while later if you want to stay with Mason."

"No, it's okay, Char. You were already with her last night and I don't want you getting tired. I'm sure you'll be exhausted by the end of the day."

"I wouldn't mind."

"I would. I don't want you over exerting yourself. There's nothing you'll really be able to do there aside from keeping her company and I could do that. You should rest."

"Okay. I guess I could keep Mason company tonight. I definitely wouldn't mind that."

He smiles hearing that and then shifts in his seat. It was time for a more serious conversation. "I think we should talk about that."

"About what?"

"Mason."

"Yeah, I guess we should."

"Because I mean, it's possible that by the end of the week, he'll be ours."

"I'm aware, Cooper."

"I know you are. I just want to know what you're thinking because I know you didn't really sign up for any of this."

Charlotte puts her utensils down, leans back on her chair, and sighs. She looks at Cooper straight in the eye then says, "I think – I think all of this is just a lot to take in. I love Mason. You know that I adore him," she pauses for a while before continuing. "But I definitely didn't expect any of this. I thought that when the surgery worked, that meant everything would eventually be okay. And now we're here. She's going to die and Mason will be ours. Plus, I'm pregnant. It's just – it's a lot."

He nods and then makes his way across the table so he could be beside her. He puts one hand on her shoulder and then reaches for her hand with the other. "I know it's a lot, Char. It's a lot even for me. But we can get through all of it."

She looks up at him slowly. "Do you really think so?"

"I do," then he pauses. "Don't you?"

"I don't know. I want to believe that we will but I just – I don't know," she sighs and then continues. "I'm scared, Coop."

Cooper suddenly realizes that what his wife really needs right now is assurance rather than discussing an actual plan for the rest of their lives. He looks at her then signals that they should probably take this conversation to her couch.

They both settle down and then he takes her hand in his again. "Char, you're going to be a great mom. You already are."

When she hears that, it's as if she has lost control over her ability to cry because tears start to stream out of her eyes and into her cheeks. He wipes them off with his thumbs and then tells her again reassuringly, "You're already great, Char. You don't need to be scared."

She exhales deeply and then holds his hand tighter; almost like a squeeze. "Ever since you asked me about it before, I've been scared to have a kid; to become someone's mother. Then Mason came along and I learned to love him and thought maybe I could do it. But now – now I'm pregnant and Mason will be ours. I was just getting ready to be a momma and now I'm being given two children. I just don't know if I can handle all of that just yet."

"Oh Char," he says while reaching for her other hand so he can really hold on to her. "I know that this is a lot and it's like everything's been given to you all at once. But I know you and I know that you can handle this. Mason and this baby we're going to have, god, they're probably the luckiest kids to get you as a mom. You can do this. We can do this because I am never going to leave you alone to handle this."

"You won't?" she asks as another tear escapes from her eye.

"I won't. We'll get through this, Char. And we'll get through it together."

She just nods at that and then leans her head on his shoulder. He holds on to her as if he's cradling a child and they stay that way. Every time he sees tears that manage to make their way to her cheeks, he softly brushes them away with his thumb. They don't say anything to one another but just breathe. Both just think about how the rest of their lives will be from now on.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I have received a number of reviews against Erica and Mason being a part of this story and unfortunately, most of those who submitted them don't have accounts that I can send messages to. Others have also mentioned how I should delete such reviews or defended where these characters are coming from. I appreciate the reviews that I have received and for that reason, I am respecting all your opinions and not deleting them. As for Erica and Mason being in this story, their involvement, especially Mason's, in the life of Charlotte and Cooper is really what I wanted to explore and I hope that you can respect that.

Thank you for all the effort that you have put into reading and reviewing my work. I am truly grateful.


	7. Chapter 7

It's a little past six when Cooper makes his way towards the halls of St. Ambrose that lead to Erica's room. He's pretty nervous about going in. The last time he was there was when he brought in Mason to say goodbye and that was one of the hardest things he ever had to see. When he enters, he sees her in bed and is just distraught. Charlotte had warned him but he didn't prepare himself enough. The woman that he had seen the day before looks as if she had aged years in one night.

"Hey," he says entering the room.

"Hey there. Don't ask how I'm feeling cause I can assure you it isn't a good answer."

He grimaces at that. "Okay, I won't."

There's silence in the room after that. She looks at him and they both know what she's meaning to ask. She swallows significantly then lets it out. "So – so how's Mason?"

"He's doing the best that he can. He's at home with Charlotte now."

"Right," she says nodding. "That's good. It's good that he's with Charlotte. She's gotten so good with him."

"She really has. I told you that she'll love him", he says as he takes a seat on the chair next to her bed.

"Well, I guess I can't say you didn't warn me."

"Hey now, no matter how much Charlotte and Mason love each other, you'll always be his mom. Charlotte isn't going to try and replace you."

She starts to tear up now. "I know. I know she isn't going to try to but – it's difficult to imagine my son depending on another woman that way; the way he depended on me."

"I know it is. But you can take comfort in knowing he'll be depending on a great woman and that people who really love and care about him are taking care of him."

She nods upon hearing that. "He's everything to me, Cooper. You know that. And I trust you and Charlotte to take care of him."

"He's important to us too, Erica. I'm sure you know that. We will love him and protect him as if he were the both of ours."

"Thank you. I know it's a lot to ask, especially from Charlotte, but thank you."

"Listen, you look like you could use some sleep already. Go and rest and I'll be here for a while longer just in case you need anything."

She just nods at that, positions herself as much as she can, and then slowly drifts to sleep.

* * *

><p>Back at the loft, Charlotte and Mason are finishing up homework that's due the next day. Charlotte looks through the books and notebooks spread across the coffee table to make sure they've accomplished everything that needed to be done. "So, we did your long division homework for Math, fixed your English paper, and studied for your Science test. I'd say we're done for the day. Wouldn't you agree?"<p>

"Definitely, I'm tired and I'm not really in the mood to do any advance work."

She messes with his hair then continues. "No advance work for you tonight, mister. I was thinking some dinner then we could call it a night?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Great. Let's put these things away then I'll get started on dinner."

They simultaneously get started on putting away the books, notebooks, papers, and writing materials on the table. When they're done, Charlotte's just about to stand up from her spot on the floor when Mason says, "Thanks for helping me tonight, Charlotte."

She sits back down on the floor, messes with his hair again, then says, "You're welcome, Mason. I'll always be around to help you with your homework or with anything else for that matter."

He just nods at that. Charlotte picks up there's something he's holding back. She's not that much of a talker but if she wants to make an honest connection and relationship with this child, she was going to have to initiate it.

"What's on your mind, Mason?"

"Nothing," he says while shaking his head.

She leans back on the frame of the couch to get comfortable. This was probably going to be a longer conversation than she had anticipated. "You're not fooling me, mister. I'm the master of keeping things to myself so I can smell someone like me a mile away. Now out with it."

He takes a deep breath and looks at her straight in the eye. "Are you okay with all of this?

"Okay with all of what?"

"With my mom dying and you having to take me in."

She gestures for him to move closer to her so he moves in to lean on the couch as well. "Am I okay with your mom dying? Of course not, Mason. I wish she didn't have to so you wouldn't have to go through all this pain you're feelin' right now. But am I okay with you being a part of my life with your dad? Of course I am."

"You really are?"

"I really am, mister."

"And you don't hate me? Cause I know you're my stepmom now and I heard most stepmom hate their step kids."

"Mason," she says while taking his hand in hers. "I do not hate you. I love you. I'll be honest and say I didn't love you right away because you came into your dad's live unexpectedly. But you've become a really important part of our lives and I've learned to love you. And I know I'll only continue to love you more."

He smiles hearing that and then looks up at her. "I love you too, Charlotte."

She smiles and envelopes him in a warm embrace. Just like the day before, they both hold on to each other for a while and they stay that way for minutes.

* * *

><p>By the time Cooper gets home, Charlotte's in bed reading a book with Mason's sleeping form right beside her. He drops his things by their place near the door and then heads for the bedroom.<p>

"Hey," he says as he makes his way to the bed and sits by the foot of Charlotte.

"Hey."

"How was your night?"

She puts her book away then scoots closer to him towards the edge of the bed. "It was fine. We worked on his homework and studied for one of his tests tomorrow and then had mac and cheese for dinner. "

"That's good. I'm glad to hear it," he says then kisses the top of her head softly.

She smiles at him and then looks towards Mason to make sure he's really sleeping. In a whisper she asks, "So how was Erica?"

Cooper peaks at Mason himself just to be sure then continues, "Not good," he says as he shakes his head. "She's pretty much completely paralyzed from the waist down and before I left she started to lose control of her bowels."

She sighs hearing that while still wishing some sort of miracle could be given to them just to spare Mason from this kind of pain. Cooper notices she's in deep thought so he rubs her thigh then says, "Hey, I don't want you worrying about it. It sucks, I know it does but don't stress over it."

She just nods her head and then gives him a faint smile.

"Besides," he continues. "Stress like that isn't good for the little one," then he reaches towards her belly to give it a soft kiss.

Every time he does that, she can't help but smile. "The little one is just fine, Cooper."

"I know it is but I don't want to take any chances. This kind of stress can't be good for either of you."

"I'm grateful you worry about me but I'm fine. And the baby's fine."

He nods and then notices a change in her expression. Like she's hesitant about something. He cups the side of her face then asks, "What's up, Char?"

"I was just thinking," she sighs.

"About what?"

"Well, when do you think we should tell Mason about the baby? I mean, I don't want to dump the news on him when he already has so much to process but I also don't want to keep it from him."

"I guess we could wait a few weeks. Maybe after your twelfth week? That's when we're planning to tell everyone else, right?"

"Yeah, I guess we could. I just hope he takes it well."

"Char, he loves you and I'm sure he knows we love him too. He'll be fine with it."

"I hope you're right."

"Stop worrying about that, Char. We should just be excited about the baby and we'll deal with Mason and how he reacts to it when we get there. But don't let anything ruin this moment, okay?"

"Okay", she says and smiles faintly at him.

Then he leans in towards her and then plants a soft and delicate kiss on her lips.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I am once again addressing those reviewers that do not like Erica and Mason's involvement in this story. Further, those reviewers who claim that writers and viewers such as myself are causing the show's decline and possible cancellation. Of course I care about whether or not the show will be picked up for another season. My intentions with this story is to show what could possibly happen when the show goes for season six. If you disagree with what I am writing, then I apologize because I cannot please everyone.

Furthermore, I am in fact proud of myself for continuing to watch the show and supporting this arc. I was hesitant about it but I put my trust in Shonda Rhimes to deliver a good story. If the show is cancelled, it will not be on me and viewers such as myself. Again, thank you for your inputs.


	8. Chapter 8

It's another early morning spent on the bathroom floor for Cooper and Charlotte. Lately, her morning sickness spells had been arriving earlier than they previously had. It usually made her crankier but she couldn't help but be grateful for their timing. After all, she wanted to avoid Mason seeing her go through them at all costs.

Now, she is leaning on Cooper exhausted from all the vomiting. And as usual, he just continues to rub soft circles on her back and whispers words of comfort to her ear.

She significantly sighs and grunts before whispering, "I hate this, Coop."

"I know you do, Char. But it'll be over soon."

"Three weeks isn't soon enough. I'm exhausted. Plus, my boobs are starting to hurt."

He kisses her softly on the top of her head then slowly lifts her chin up so they could look at each other. "I know it's getting harder for you and you're starting to feel like crap, but you can do this. And I'll be here for you the whole time."

She smiles up at him then nods her head. He's about to lean in towards her lips when she stops him. "I taste like vomit, Coop. I might have to taste it first thing every morning but you shouldn't have to."

"I want to," he says before leaning in closer to place a soft kiss on her slightly quivering lips.

When they part, Cooper looks at her then chuckles. "You do taste like vomit."

She attempts a soft chuckle before answering, "I tried to warn you."

"You did, but I don't mind it. I'll kiss you no matter what you taste like."

She just smiles at that and then leans in further to his body trying to regain some energy. She has only vomited twice this morning so she knows to expect another round before she can say it's done. A minute or two later, she feels the liquid forming in her throat and quickly sits up to face the toilet. On cue, Cooper sits up higher to assist her as he pulls her hair away from her face and rubs her back.

* * *

><p>The retches of round three are usually the worst and on this morning, they're loud enough to wake up Mason. He slowly sits up in bed and rubs the sleep away from his eyes. Then he hears vomiting coming from the bathroom as well as his dad's soft voice.<p>

"_You're okay, Char. It's okay. You're going to be okay."_

His dad doesn't get a response but only a louder retch coming from Charlotte. He's feeling scared and worried now. The last time he saw someone vomit it was his mom and it was blood that she threw up. Vomiting was never a good sign. After a few minutes, he hears his dad's voice again.

"_You go ahead and shower then I'll wake up Mason and make us some breakfast."_

There's no verbal response again. Then after a while, he hears the sound of the shower being turned on. He decides to lie back down in bed and pretend to still be asleep.

Cooper makes his way towards Mason's sleeping figure on the bed then softly shakes him to wake him up.

"Wake up, Mase. "

He grunts a little to make his act a little more believable. Cooper strokes his head now then repeats, "Wake up, Mase."

And with that, he slowly opens his eyes then sits up in bed. He looks around then asks, "Where's Charlotte?"

"Already in the shower."

"She gets up early to shower a lot."

Cooper messes with his hair a bit. "That's to make sure we'll all have enough time to shower and get to school and work on time. Now come on, let's have breakfast. I was thinking pancakes and bacon?"

He smiles faintly at that feeling like once again, his dad is keeping something from him. "Sure, dad."

* * *

><p>Cooper strolls into the office that morning and makes his way straight to Violet's office. He walks through the open door, closes it behind him, and lands on her couch before she even realizes he's there. When she acknowledges his presence in her office, she makes her way from behind her desk to the spot next to Cooper on the couch. She takes his hand in hers and gives it a light squeeze.<p>

"How're you holding up?" she asks.

He sighs deeply before answering. "Not good. Everything's just – everything's just a mess right now."

"Coop, I know things are bad right now but they will get better."

"When?" he asks as he looks up at her.

"Soon. I know it doesn't seem like that right now but eventually, things will get better. You just have to hold on for a bit longer and wait for it."

"I just need things to get easier already and that's not how the near future looks. By the end of the week, Erica could be dead and Mason will have to bury his mother. That's too much for any kid and I can't protect him from it."

"You just have to be there, Cooper."

"But it's not enough! Whether or not I'm there, my son is hurting and there's nothing I can do about it. I just feel so powerless."

"It might not seem like a lot but you just being there will help. This child is losing his mother and he needs someone. You and Charlotte being there helps him more than you think."

"This isn't fair to Charlotte either, Vi. When she married me, she didn't sign up for this. Now I've trapped her. She has no choice but to raise this kid with me. And more than that, she's pregnant with our first baby and she can't even enjoy it. She's so busy worrying about me or worrying about Mason that she can't just enjoy being pregnant and looking forward to our baby. It's been so unfair of me to trap her this way and I just love her so much that I want to make things better."

Violet leans in closer to Cooper and slowly envelopes him in the hug that he obviously needs right now. Then she softly rubs her back as she says, "Coop, Charlotte loves you and she loves Mason. If she didn't, then she wouldn't have stuck around for so long. But she's here and she's going through this with you. Is she right to freak out and worry? Yeah, definitely. She loves you both because that's what a wife and a mother does. You just need to remind her that things will get easier for all of you. And as long as you two are together, you'll be fine."

He nods his head while being in her embrace then slowly parts away from her. He looks at his best friend in the eye then says, "I just want her to be happy. Mason came out of nowhere and this baby we're having wasn't planned. I don't want her to wake up one day and resent me or resent the life we have together."

"Charlotte's a mother now, Cooper. You make her happy and from what I can see Mason makes her happy too. I have no doubt the baby will make her even happier. She just needs time to settle into this life; all of you do."

He leans back on the couch and sinks further into it then nods. She takes his hand in hers again and they just sit there for a little while longer.

* * *

><p>Cooper makes his way to Charlotte's office at St. Ambrose and finds her perusing through patient files when he enters.<p>

"Hey," he says.

She looks up from what she's reading and smiles when she sees him. "Hey. What're you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see you. And I was actually hoping we could talk. Are you busy?"

"Give me a second to finish this file then we can talk."

He nods at that and makes his way to her office couch. When she's done, she gets up from her chair and makes her way towards the couch and sits next to him. She exhales deeply as she leans into the couch then looks up at him and asks, "What's up, Coop?"

She doesn't get a response right away. He just looks at her lovingly and it makes her eyebrow slightly rise up. "Coop?" she asks again.

He cups the side of her face then leans in to kiss her on the lips. After they part, she smiles then asks, "What was that for?"

"Have I told you how much I love you?" he says as he takes her hand and intertwines it with his. "And how excited I am to have a baby with you?"

"You might've mentioned it once or twice," she says with a smirk.

He looks into her eyes deeply then continues, "I want you to know that I do Char and that I always will."

"I know you do, Coop," she says reassuringly. "What's this about?"

"I just don't want you to ever doubt those things. I know things right now are bad but I need you to know how much I love you and that I am so excited for us to have a baby together."

"I don't doubt any of it."

He smiles at her softly after hearing that and then reaches for his pocket. He pulls out a small velvet box and Charlotte's definitely eyeing it. He looks up at her and those famous Charlotte King eyebrows are raised up again.

"Coop?" she asks.

He slowly lets go of her hand and then gets up from the couch so he could stand in front of her and then kneel on one knee. "Cooper, I'm already married to you. I know our anniversary's coming up soon but that doesn't mean you need to propose to me all over again."

He just chuckles at that then says, "This isn't a proposal for marriage, Char." And then he opens the velvet box to reveal a small horseshoe pendant in gold with diamond trimming. She looks at it with wide eyes but she's speechless and that's Cooper's cue to continue. "Almost two years ago, I asked you to marry me and it's almost been a year since we've been married. When I proposed to you then and when we got married, I know having a family wasn't exactly in our plans. But right now, that's where we are. In the past year, we found out I had a son out there and now he's being left in our care. And soon enough, we'll be welcoming our baby into our lives. So this, this is a proposal for a family and a home together. I would've gotten you another ring but that would've been cheesy so I thought this would give a little taste of home for you," he pauses to wipe away a few of the tears that have managed to make their way into her cheeks and then continues. "I love you, Charlotte King and I am committing myself to loving you and loving our family for the rest of my life. I promise to take care of all of you, to protect all of you, and to love all of you."

After that he looks up at her and just like the first time he asked her to marry him, she's speechless. She just looks from his face to the velvet box and back to his face again. He cups the side of her face then slowly rubs her cheek. "Char?" he asks lovingly.

She takes a deep breath to compose herself a bit and then puts her hand on top of his. "You know, you aren't allowed to surprise hormonal pregnant women with gestures like that. Look what it's doin' to me," she says as more tears escape from her eyes. She takes another deep breath then continues. "But thank you, Coop. It was very sweet of you. And I do."

"You do?" he asks with a slightly raised eyebrow this time.

"I do," she says. "I do promise to love and raise our family with you from this day on, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

He smiles so big after hearing that and so does she. He gets up, takes the necklace out of its box, puts it around her neck, and then leans in for a deep kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

It's Sunday morning and Cooper's decided to take Mason out early to pick up some pastries he knew Charlotte was craving for. They're on their way back when he gets a text.

"_Where are you and Mason?"_

"_Morning. Went to that bakery you like to grab you a few pastries since you mentioned last night you were craving."_

"_You're the sweetest. See you in a bit."_

"Isn't there some law that you shouldn't be texting while driving?" Mason asks from the passenger seat.

With that, Cooper quickly puts his phone back in his pocket before responding. "Yeah, sorry about that. It's Charlotte. She woke up to an empty loft and wondered where we were. But I promise, I won't do it again."

Mason just shrugs in response and looks out the window. After a while he looks back at his dad then asks, "Have you seen my mom lately?"

Cooper's caught off guard by the question and he can tell from his peripheral view that Mason's anxiously waiting for an answer. He takes a deep breath before looking back at this son. "No buddy, I'm sorry. I haven't seen her since the night before last."

"Well have you heard anything about how she's doing? Did Charlotte see her yesterday? She came home late last night so I wasn't able to ask."

"Yeah, buddy. She mentioned she stopped by last night."

"Well? How was she?"

Cooper hesitates a bit and decides to just keep his eyes on the road. "She didn't say much. It was late so we didn't really get to talk about it."

"That means she's doing better, right? Doctors don't talk about a patient much if they're getting better cause patients like that are boring for them," he says with obvious optimism in his voice.

Now he's feeling inclined to look at Mason's direction so he turns his head and looks into his eyes hoping to make an impression on him. "Buddy, I'm sorry but no. That's not what I mean when I say Charlotte didn't say much. She just didn't have the time to really talk about it because she was tired but your mom – she's not doing any better."

"Is she feeling worse?"

"Yes, she is."

"How much worse?"

Cooper takes a deep breath while finding great difficulty in answering these questions. He promised his son honesty but it was getting more difficult to give it to him. "You know what, bud? Why don't we continue this talk when we get to the loft? Charlotte was just with your mom so we can answer these questions for you together."

"Okay," he says while seemingly bowing his head in defeat.

Cooper just looks at him again with a faint smile and then messes with his hair.

* * *

><p>When they get to the loft, Mason makes a run for it to the bathroom after feeling the need to go when they were five minutes away from home. Cooper makes his way towards Charlotte who's in the kitchen nibbling on toast. He drops the bag of pastries in front of her and then kisses her temple.<p>

"Good morning to you too," she says.

"Morning," he replies and then kisses her again. "Sorry if we left so early but I really wanted to make sure you'd get those."

Charlotte's already nibbling on one of the pastries so he knows the gesture's truly appreciated. "It's no problem. I missed you this morning but it was worth it."

"Did you get sick again?"

She sighs. "Course I did. I swear, these two and a half weeks better go by quickly cause I don't know how much more of this morning sickness I can handle."

He puts his hands on her shoulders and starts to massage her softly. "They will. And again, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you this morning."

"It's okay, Coop."

"Anyway, when Mason comes out, we're gonna need to talk to him."

She scrunches up her nose a bit before asking, "About what?"

"About Erica."

"What about her?"

"Well, on our way home earlier he started asking me more questions. I was vague like we discussed but I think it's making him hopeful she'll get better anyway."

"What'd you tell him?"

"Just that she was feeling worse than before."

"What else should we tell him then? Do you want to get into the gruesome details now?"

He sighs and runs a hand across his face; obviously distraught on what their next course of action should be. "I don't know. I mean, I don't want to tell him how bad it is but we can't downplay it make it seem like she'll live when we both know she won't."

Before she gets a chance to answer, they hear Mason's voice coming from the bedroom. "Dad? Charlotte?"

Charlotte's the first to respond and calls out for him. "We're in the kitchen, Mason!"

"Wait in the living room and we'll be with you in a minute," Cooper adds.

In a soft voice he asks, "So how do we do this?"

"We be as honest and tactful as possible. The kid needs the honesty but let's not say anything that sounds traumatic."

He nods and then heads to the living room with Charlotte right behind him holding on to her bag of pastries. They find Mason already on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Both position themselves on either side of him and lean back anticipating a rather long conversation.

Mason looks from Charlotte to his dad and then back to Charlotte again. "How was my mom yesterday?" he asks.

Charlotte takes a deep breath and smoothes down his hair before answering, "Not good, Mason. I wasn't with her much but she wasn't doing well."

"How bad was it?"

"Well," she says while shifting a little in her seat. "She can't really move much anymore so that means she can't go to the bathroom by herself. She's been feeling a lot of pain for a day or two and she's starting to find it difficult to breathe."

"And there's really nothing you can do to make her better?"

She smiles faintly at him but it's pain behind that smile as she reaches for his hand and takes it in hers. "We can't stop these kinds of things from happening to her. All we can do is try to relieve the pain and make her feel as comfortable as possible."

"Are you doing that? Are you making her comfortable and making it hurt less?

Cooper jumps in this time to assure him. "Of course we are. We're doing everything we can to make it easier for your mom."

"But no matter how much easier you make it, she's still going to die?"

"I'm sorry, Mason, but yes. No matter what medicines we give her, your mom's going to die," Cooper says.

"And I really can't see her again?"

Now both Charlotte and Cooper look at each other with pain stricken expressions. They've struggled with keeping him away and with the idea of letting him see her again so they can't imagine the struggle Erica's going through. Charlotte gives the signal that she'll take care of this one so she takes a deep breath, moves closer towards Mason, and then says, "I'm sorry, Mason, but you can't. Your mom, she's protecting you as much as she can and for a good reason," she pauses to stroke the side of his face. She sees the pain in his eyes multiply significantly and she's inclined to offer him something more. "But I'll tell you what, I'll go over there tomorrow and ask her, okay? I can't guarantee she'll say yes, but I'll ask."

That seems to be enough for him so he just nods softly before Cooper extends his arms and envelopes him in another embrace.

* * *

><p>It's almost the end of her shift in St. Ambrose when Charlotte gets a page from Amelia to meet her in Erica's room. She fully intended on going there before heading home but she'll go now. She knew being paged to a patient's room was never a good sign. As she made her way there, she imagined the worst and rightfully so. It had been six days since Erica was admitted and was given a week to live. When she opened the door to her room, she realized she had been right to imagine such things. Erica was lying on the bed and looked closer to death than some of those that were actually dead. She was beyond the usual definition of pale and her body looked as hard as rock. As Charlotte made her way towards the side of her bed where Amelia was, Amelia took the liberty to explain the situation.<p>

"She's finding it difficult to breathe without any pain. As of this morning, nurses told me her organs had started to shut down. This could be it, Charlotte."

Charlotte just nods upon hearing her friend's update on Erica's condition. Erica is finally aware of Charlotte's presence when she appears in the side where Erica's head is facing. Apparently, she's lost movement even up to her neck. It all happened so fast and even Charlotte was hopeful that it wouldn't happen this way. She approaches Erica's side closer and takes her hand and just softly says, "I'm here, Erica. I'm right here."

She tries to respond but is finding it hard to. Charlotte notices that tears are starting to form in her eyes and she just moves her hand up and down Erica's arm hoping she'd feel comfort in that. And then she realizes that she can't feel any of it. She slowly takes a seat while still holding on to her hand.

With much difficulty, Erica manages to let it out. "Ma – mason."

"Do you want me to go get him? Do you want him here right now? He wants to see you so badly so just say the word and Cooper will bring him right over."

She attempts to shake her head but the effort is futile. Charlotte doesn't realize what she's trying to do until she starts to take deeper breaths while getting the word out. "N – n- no."

"Okay, I understand. I won't bring him in to see this."

More tears have formed in her eyes that now they're actually falling on her cheeks. "Ma – mason", she repeats again.

Charlotte looks at her straight in the eyes to make sure Erica can feel her sincerity. "Don't you worry about him, okay? Cooper and me will love him and take care of him and protect him. He's gonna be okay and we'll make sure of it," she pauses for a while to take a deep breath before she continues. "We are going to talk about you to make sure he never forgets and we're going to raise him up right to be a good man. Don't you worry about him."

By now, Erica's tears are uncontrollable and she attempts to let out her sobs but there's great pain and difficulty in trying to do so.

Charlotte adjusts the oxygen mask on her face a little then softly tells her,"Shh. It's okay, Erica. Take a deep breath. It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna be right here. You just rest, okay?"

* * *

><p>As Charlotte's about to turn her key into the loft's lock, she abruptly stops herself. She takes a deep breath and has never been so hesitant to enter her home. She knew that once she got there, she and Cooper would have to deliver the devastating news to Mason that Erica had died. She takes another deep breath and then opens the door. She finds Cooper and Mason in the living room playing another round of Wii Tennis. She makes her way towards the table at the end to put down her coat and purse. Cooper looks back at her and she just gives him a face that says it all.<p>

"Hey Charlotte!" Mason calls out while in the middle of the game.

"Hey there, Mason," she softly says.

If Cooper wasn't sure about it before, the way that Charlotte's eyes seem to be filling up with tears as she makes her way to the couch is clarification enough.

"Beat you again, dad."

Cooper ruffles Mason's hair first before saying, "You did. You definitely did," and then he pauses. "Listen, Mase, Charlotte and I need to talk to you again."

"About what?"

"About your mom, Mason," Charlotte answers.

"What about her?"

She sighs deeply and looks at him with pained eyes. "Why don't you come sit next to me?"

Both Cooper and Mason make their way towards the couch next to her. Cooper and Charlotte look at each other, take a deep breath, and then let it out.


	10. Chapter 10

It's been three days since Erica's funeral and the loft has had the same eerie sense of silence since then. Mason's barely said anything to Cooper and Charlotte and this night isn't any different. The three are seated together having dinner and the only thing they hear is the sound of their utensils hitting each other or the sides of their plates.

Cooper looks across from his seat to where Mason is seated. Lately, every time he looks at him, he goes right back to the funeral. As they lowered Erica's casket, Mason's eyes were like an ocean of tears and they uncontrollably flowed out to his cheeks. He just looked so distraught and hurt that Cooper knew it was a face he would never forget. The past few days had been horrible. He thought waiting for Erica's surgery in Seattle was horrible or the days leading up to her death were horrible. But he realized that seeing Mason's face after he and Charlotte told him that his mother had died had to be the worst of it. Now, he's stirring the pasta on his plate while looking at his son and all he wants to do is make everything better. Or at least, see a smile on his son's face again.

"How's the pasta, Mason?"

He doesn't look up at his dad. He just twirls his fork around the pasta while pretending to use the knife to cut the noodles into smaller bits. "It's okay."

"Charlotte cooked dinner tonight since she got out of work early."

That's enough to make him look up as he feels obligated to be polite. "Thank you, Charlotte."

"You're very welcome, Mason," she replies.

"So how was school, buddy?"

"School was okay."

"Did you ace that History test like how I said you would?"

"I guess. We don't get the results back until next week."

"Well, I'm sure you aced it anyway."

He doesn't bother replying to that. He just goes about twirling noodles and chewing them down. After a few minutes, he's finished more than half of the food on his plate and puts his utensils down.

"May I be excused now?"

"We've got strawberry ice cream in the freezer if you want some for dessert," Cooper answers.

"No thanks. I really just want to wash up and go to bed if that's okay."

"Of course it is, Mason. You go on ahead and call it a night."

"Thanks, Charlotte. Good night."

He pushes his chair back, gets up, gives both Cooper and Charlotte a faint smile, and then makes his way to the bedroom they all share.

* * *

><p>When they hear the shower head come to life, Cooper drops his utensils and just shakes his head. Charlotte puts her hand on top of his and rubs it softly. "It's okay, Coop. It's gonna get better."<p>

He uses his free hand to stroke it around his face and then looks softly at Charlotte. "When, Char?"

"I can't answer that, Coop," she sighs. "You know that. But you also know that they will. We just need to be patient."

"And until then, what do we do?"

"We just do what we're already doing. We let him know that we're here for him when he's ready. And even if he doesn't feel like he'll ever be ready, it'll be okay with us."

"Is it really okay with us?"

"Grief's a tricky thing, Coop. There's no timetable for it and there's no guide to get around it. He'll deal with it the way he thinks is right and we just need to support that."

"So we make sure he knows we're here for him but we don't push either?"

"I think that's all we can really do. We make sure that he's okay in terms of everything else but we let him grief the way he needs to."

"We make sure he eats and keeps more or less the same performance in school and if he acts out then we'll push?"

"We'll see how far we can push."

"Okay, that sounds about right," he says before taking another deep breath. After that, he looks at Charlotte and he can tell there's pain in her eyes too. More pain than there was in the past few days so he's inclined to ask. "What's wrong, Char?"

"Nothing, I'm fine, Coop," she says with a faint smile.

He parts his hand from hers then brings it up to her face so he can cup her cheek with it. "I know you and you aren't fine. Or at least, you're not any better than you were earlier so what's going on?"

"I guess," she pauses for a beat. "I guess I just want the same thing you want; for everything to just get better sooner rather than later."

"I know the past few weeks have been hell and this last week and a half has been the worst but we can get through this. We have each other so whatever happens, we can get through it."

She holds the hand that's resting on his cheek and genuinely smiles at him. "I believe it. It's hard to think we can but I believe it."

From there, he responds with a genuine smile of his own and then leans in to plant a soft kiss on her lips. When they part he asks, "So, I think we should discuss our game plan now."

Her eyebrow slightly rises at that. "Our game plan?" she questions.

"Yeah," he hesitates a little. "You know, our plan on how we're really going to move forward with taking care of Mason and eventually the baby."

"Right, that."

"Unless you don't want to. I mean, we can talk about it another time if you want."

"No, no," she shakes her head. "I guess we should talk about it now."

"Okay, let's talk about it now."

"Well, what do you have in mind?'

"For starters, we'll really need to get that house. When we talked about it before, it was when we thought Mason would need room for visits and then eventually a room for the baby. But we need more space now."

"I agree. I feel like we've been living in a shoebox lately so the sooner we can move, the better."

"Do you want me to contact a realtor tomorrow or do you already have a contact?"

"I guess I could contact my old realtor and ask her to show us a few places."

"Okay, so that's settled. We'll start looking at houses."

"So what else is on the agenda?"

He chuckles a little at that then continues. "Well, I was thinking about our work schedules."

Now both her eyebrows are raised. "What about them?"

"Well, I was thinking if we'd need to make adjustments of some kind."

"What kind of adjustments?"

"Maybe adjustments to accommodate Mason's school schedule."

"What's wrong with the system we have so far? It seems to be working."

"Yeah, it sort of has but there are a few kinks."

"What kind of kinks? You didn't mention this to me before."

"Well, yeah cause I didn't really want you to worry about them but now that we're discussing these things I thought I'd bring it up."

"Sounds reasonable. But seriously, what kind if kinks?"

He slightly scratches his head looking a bit embarrassed. "I've kind of been taking him to school an hour early since he came to stay with us."

"Why on earth are you doin' that?" she questions. "If the kid could sleep more, let 'em."

"Cause if I don't, then I won't make it to work on time. His classes start a quarter after eight and so if I take him a little before that, traffic will catch up on me."

She shakes her head after hearing that. "You should've told me, Coop. I can take him on the days when I start at St. Ambrose since I don't need to get in until nine."

"I didn't want to hassle you with it."

"It's not a hassle if it's for my kid," she says. "I can take him on the days when I start at St. Ambrose so that way the poor kid only wakes up early twice a week."

"Thank you," he says sheepishly.

"What about goin' home?"

"What about it?"

"Are there kinks about that that you aren't telling me about?"

"No, no," he says.

She raises an eyebrow questioning him.

"Okay, there's a little kink. He gets out earlier on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I have to cut my days an hour short. But that's it."

"Well, I guess that's not so bad."

"It isn't, Char. Don't worry about it. I already talked to Addison and she completely understands."

"Okay, then I guess that's settled too."

"What do you think about his school?"

"I don't really know much about it. Why?"

"I don't know if it's the best one for him or maybe we can send him to a better one."

"I don't think movin' him to another school's a good idea right now, Coop. I get what you mean that there could be somethin' better out there. But right now, the kid's had enough change to deal with. This is probably a conversation for another time."

"Right," he nods his head. "You're right. I'm just thinking too much about all of this."

"You're planning out our lives. There's nothin' wrong with that."

"Thank you," he softly says out of nowhere.

"For what?"

"For doing all of this with me. I wouldn't want to with anyone else."

She looks at him lovingly then cups the side of his face. "Well, lucky for you, you won't have to."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Thank you for all the reviews that all of you have sent in. I truly appreciate them and hope that you continue to review my work! I will also continue to reply to all reviewers who have registered accounts to further show my appreciation :)


	11. Chapter 11

Cooper wakes up early on Saturday morning with Charlotte wrapped in his arms. He softly kisses her on the temple then softly untangles his arms from her body while being absolutely careful that he won't wake her. As he sits up and looks at her sleeping form beside him, he can't help but smile at how rested and peaceful she looks. The morning sickness was starting to subside and he was grateful for that. It was starting to become difficult to see her feeling so miserable on a daily basis.

He swings his feet to the side of the bed and slowly gets up. He makes his way towards the divider while being sure not to disrupt Mason who's asleep on an inflatable mattress. When he gets to the kitchen, he starts to make breakfast. It's a Saturday that seems to be perfect for blueberry pancakes and bacon. As he mixes the pancake batter, he hears footsteps that are making their way towards the kitchen.

"Morning, dad," Mason says while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Morning, Mason. Take a seat and I'll have your pancakes ready in just a minute."

He does as he's told while letting out another yawn.

"Charlotte's still fast asleep," he mentions.

"Oh yeah, I know. We'll let her sleep in today, Mase. She worked kind of late last night."

"That's why she wasn't able to make it to dinner last night, right?"

"Yup. There was a car accident that happened at around six so she had to stay until everything with those traumas were settled."

"She did seem tired when she got home last night. She just said hi then crawled into bed."

"Exactly why she gets to sleep in. She has the day off so I'll just make her a batch of pancakes for when she wakes up but we can go on with the rest of the day even if she's sleeping."

"Alright," he says while chewing on his breakfast. "It's weird that she's still in bed though. She's usually the first one up."

Cooper chuckles softly at that. Apparently, Mason had already observed Charlotte's early morning regimen. "Yeah, she's a stickler when it comes to being on time so she never wakes up a minute after she has to. But since she has nothing to be late for today, I turned off her alarm."

"You sure she wouldn't mind that?" he questions.

"Nope. She'll probably be irked about it but she'll be glad she got a few extra hours of sleep. Trust me," he says with a wink.

"Okay, dad. Whatever you say."

"So listen, after breakfast, you wanna watch a show or two while waiting for Charlotte to wake up then we could head out somewhere? The mall maybe?"

"Yeah, sure. That sounds good," he pauses before looking up at his dad again. "Can I get a new pack of Pokemon cards?"

"Hmm," Cooper teases. "We'll see. Maybe if you finish your pancakes and drink every drop of milk in your glass, I'd consider it."

Mason starts to chug down almost half of the glass then gives his dad a cheeky smile. Cooper can't help but laugh at that.

"Okay, buddy, keep it up and you'll have a new pack by the end of the day."

* * *

><p>They're in the middle of watching another Pokemon rerun when they hear the bathroom door quickly open then get shut close. They both look into that direction and then hear a gag after. Cooper gets up before patting Mason's shoulder then says, "I'll just go and check on Charlotte. I'll be right back, bud."<p>

When he gets to the bathroom, he gets down on the floor behind her and grabs hold of the strands of hair that have made her way towards her face. She finishes getting sick then leans back on him.

"What time is it?" she asks softly.

"Around 10:30."

"10:30?" she asks as she quirks an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I turned off your alarm. I knew you were tired and didn't have to go in today so it didn't make sense for you to have to get up early."

"Thank you."

"No problem, Char," he says before kissing her temple. "How's the morning sickness today?"

"It's better. I think that might actually be it but I want to wait a little while longer just to be sure."

"Okay, let's wait it out together."

* * *

><p>After they're sure she's done getting sick for the day, she gurgles some mouthwash to get rid of the taste of vomit then her and Cooper make their way towards the living room. They find Mason there still sitting with his eyes glued to the screen. Cooper takes a seat beside him while Charlotte heads to the kitchen to grab a glass of milk. She makes her way from the kitchen to the living room then sits beside Cooper.<p>

"Morning, Charlotte," Mason greets.

"Morning, mister."

It's a little quiet after that and then Mason switches his view from the screen to Charlotte. "Charlotte?" he says.

"Yeah, Mason?"

"Are you," he hesitates a little and then continues. "Are you sick and dying too?"

Charlotte nearly chokes on the milk she's drinking so she coughs a little, wipes the sides of her mouth, and then puts the glass down before responding. "What? Mason, no, I'm not. What would make you ask that?"

"Well, I know you've been throwing up a lot lately. Like this morning and on some mornings when I wake up before dad wakes me up."

"You wake up before I make you?" Cooper asks.

"Yeah, sometimes. Cause I hear shuffling to the bathroom and then I hear Charlotte throwing up."

"Mason," Charlotte says. "I am not sick or dying. I promise you that."

"Then why are you throwing up so much? The last time I saw someone throw up it was my mom and it was blood. I don't know what you're throwing up but I know a person only does than when she's sick."

Cooper and Charlotte look at each and sigh. He catches it.

"What are you two keeping from me again? Please, just tell me," he pleads.

Cooper abruptly switches seats with Mason so that he's seated in between them. And then Charlotte lets it out. "I'm not sick, Mason," she says while taking his hand. "But, there is something that your dad and I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Well, Mason," she pauses, looks at Cooper for assurance and sees it in his eyes, and then continues. "The reason I've been throwing up almost every morning is because I'm pregnant and it's normal for that to happen."

"You're pregnant?"

"Y-y-yes", she answers.

He looks down at his hands and both Charlotte and Cooper look at one another again. They had discussed telling him a few weeks from now so they weren't really prepared for this conversation just yet.

"Buddy," Cooper says. "What are you thinking?"

He doesn't respond but then Cooper softly lifts his chin up and looks at him to ask again. "Mase, what's on your mind?"

"I don't know, dad", he says as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Well buddy, that's okay. It's okay if you don't know how you feel right now but you know that you can talk to Charlotte or me once you figure it out right?"

He softly nods his head.

Charlotte places a hand on top of one of his then looks at him, hoping to make an impression. "Mister, I know you didn't expect this and you've already had to adjust to a lot of different things. It's okay if you're unsure of how you're feeling right now but you need to know, your dad and I love you and having a baby isn't going to change that."

"That's right, Mase," Cooper adds. "Charlotte and I will always love you and we'll only learn to love you more, never less, okay?"

He doesn't say anything for a while and then looks up to the anxious faces of his dad and Charlotte. He takes a deep breath then says, "Okay. I love you guys too."

They both breathe a sigh of relief and then take turns to kiss him softly on the forehead. After that, the three sit in relative silence for a few minutes. Only the sound of the TV is heard but no one's really paying attention to it. They just sit and realize that once again, life had somehow changed for them.


	12. Chapter 12

Charlotte and Cooper slide into a booth of a Mexican restaurant and lean back on the cushions significantly. They're both pretty tired. They spent the morning looking through a few houses and now they both feel like doing nothing but sitting down to eat. Especially Charlotte who felt some exhaustion creep in after the second house.

After placing in their orders, Cooper puts his hand across the table so he can reach Charlotte's. "So, what did you think of the houses?"

She shrugs before answering. "They were – okay. I guess we can pick one of them already unless you want to look a little bit more."

"If they were just "okay" then I think that means we should keep looking. I don't want us to settle on some place if you don't think it's right."

"It's fine with me, Cooper. I'm just being picky. If you think one of those houses is fine, then we should make an offer."

He takes both her hands in his now and looks at her. "Tell me this, Char. Can you imagine us living our lives and becoming a family in any of those houses?"

"We'll be a family wherever we are, Coop –"

"I know that. Of course I know that. But you know what I mean. Can you picture us building our lives in any of those houses?"

She doesn't answer right away. She thinks back at the four houses that they had seen that morning and tries to imagine their lives in any of them. But truth be told, she can't. "Honestly?" she asks and he gives her a slight nod. "No, I don't."

"Well, neither do I, Char. So let's not settle. Let's keep looking."

"I just don't want to wait too long but at the same time I want to make sure that the house we get is the right one, you know?"

"I get it. Wherever we decide to move, it should be where we spend the rest of our lives in."

She smiles softly at that because she feels exactly the same way. "Exactly."

"So, what are we looking for then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Obviously the houses we saw earlier were great and they definitely had enough room for us. But they weren't right. So what do you think would be right for us?"

"I- I don't know," she answers with some hesitation, feeling like she's been caught quite off guard.

"I'm sure you have some sort of idea. Like for instance, I know I want a house with a huge yard for the kids. They could run around in it or maybe I could build them a fort of some sort in a couple of years. But I know I want a huge backyard. That's why I didn't like the second house right away."

"A yard would be nice. But it has to have a really nice bench in it."

"A really nice bench?" he asks.

"Yes. We'll need somewhere to sit to watch them run around and make sure they don't break any of their bones. Or at least I'll need somewhere to sit when I watch you try and make a fort."

Now he's smiling eagerly at her. "I'm sure we can find ourselves the perfect bench. So what else do you have in mind?"

"Well," she pauses as she collects her thoughts. "I imagine this foyer that's big but not as big as the one we have back home in Alabama. Something that's really homey and welcoming cause I imagine kissing you and the kids whenever you walk through it."

"I definitely like the idea of that. What else?"

"I already said one of mine so it's your turn now," she teases.

He chuckles softly and then continues. "I want a really nice kitchen with a countertop that we can have breakfast on every morning. Then a perfectly sized dining room for when we sit as a family each night and share how our days were."

"And maybe that dining room can be used for guests when we have some over?"

"Oh yeah, definitely. We're going to be all suburban and hold dinner parties every weekend," he laughs and she can't help but join him.

"I want a really big living room with a fireplace. Cause I imagine how every Christmas, we'll have stockings put up by the fireplace and come Christmas morning we'll be down on the floor under our huge Christmas tree."

"Well, as long as there'll be room in that huge living room of ours for Hanukkah, then I can't object to that."

"There'll be so much room in there we can hide dozens of Easter eggs when the season comes."

"I believe you," he says. "I want a playroom for the kids. Obviously they'll have their own rooms but I'm picturing this room where toys and books are dangling from shelves and our kids are down on their knees playing. That way all the mess would just be in one place."

She thinks about it and then nods her head a little. "I guess that would make sense. What would we do it though when they get older?"

"I'm sure we'll think of something. Maybe we can make it a study of some sort for you and me?"

"Don't you think we should already have a study when we move in?"

"I didn't really think about it but I guess we should. We'll think of something for the playroom when the time comes, I'm sure of it, Char."

"Okay. I guess you're right."

"So, what else are you imagining in the house we'll live in for the rest of our lives?"

"Hmm," she thinks. "I know I definitely want a really nice master bedroom with a really great bathroom and hopefully a walk in closet."

"Oh, the quality of the master bedroom is definitely a deal maker or breaker," he says firmly.

"I'm glad we're on the same page with that cause we can't let ourselves settle for a crappy bedroom," she teases.

"We definitely are."

He looks at her lovingly for a while and neither says anything to each other for a few seconds. And then Charlotte catches something different in the way he's looking at her. "What?" she asks.

"What do you mean "what"?"

"You're lookin' at me funny."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. Now out with it, Coop."

He looks at her again then exhales. "Well, speaking of bedrooms, how many do you think we should have in the house?"

"That's it? You're lookin' at me funny for that?"

"I guess it's not just a question of how many rooms but more of how many – well, of how many children we'd want to have."

"Oh," she answers softly.

"Hey now," he says while rubbing the back of her hand. "There's no pressure or anything. Honestly, it was just an innocent question connected to the house thing."

She looks at him and nods. "I know, Coop. I get why you asked. I just – I don't really know if I'm ready to plan that far ahead yet."

"I understand."

"I mean, I'm still getting settled into really becoming Mason's parent and we haven't even begun preparing for this baby. More kids aren't really on my mind right now."

"I know it isn't and I'm sorry if it came out like I was pressuring you in anyway. I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't, Coop. It's okay."

"How about this, if we find everything we're looking for in one house, then that's it. The number of rooms won't matter just as long as Mason and this baby will have one of their own."

"I think that's definitely fair," she answers with a smile.

"Then it's settled. We know what house we're looking for!" he says with a bit of victory in his tone.

She chuckles a little at his declaration. "Yes, we definitely do."

"Hey Char," he says softly now.

"Yeah?"

"We practically just planned out the rest of our lives together."

"I know," she answers.

He leans in across the booth to give her a soft kiss on the lips. Just as they part, their orders arrive and they spend the rest of the meal not saying much. They chew on their chimichangas and nachos while occasionally looking up to smile at each other.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Let me know if there's anything you'd want to see happen and I'll try to put it in. Thank you to everyone that has been reading and reviewing!


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** I know it's been a long time since I updated but I'm here now. And for the purpose of this story, Amelia doesn't have a unicorn baby. Or at least, not _ that_ kind of unicorn baby.

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><p>It's the middle of the afternoon and Charlotte's in her office buried deep into patient files. She had taken the morning off from St. Ambrose to look at houses with Cooper and now she's trying to catch up with the work she had missed while going through the ones that need to get done for the practice. Sometimes she wondered why she had taken on two jobs but easily remembered she was Charlotte King and one just wasn't enough. As she looks through a file, she hears a slight knock on the door and then looks up.<p>

"Hey", Amelia says as she makes her way towards Charlotte's office couch.

"Hey yourself."

"You busy?"

"Yup," she quickly answers and then looks up to see a worried expression on her friend's face. "Why? What's up?" she adds.

"It's okay. You're obviously busy so –"

"What's on your mind, Amelia? I can take a little break," she says as she makes her way towards the spot next to Amelia on the couch.

"Are you sure?"

"I put my pen down and sat over here, didn't I?"

She chuckles a little at that and then takes a deep breath. "Okay. Well, I need to tell you something."

"Okay. What is it?"

"Well – I was going to tell you before but I was scared to. Not because I was scared of what you'd think or something but because I was too scared to well, say it out loud I guess."

"Are you using again, Amelia?" she asks firmly.

"No – oh god, no. It's not that, Charlotte."

She lets out a significant sigh before continuing. "Okay then, I'm glad to hear it. So what is it you've been so scared to say out loud?"

"I – I – well, the thing is – I'm pregnant."

"What?" she asks to make sure she heard that right.

"I'm pregnant."

"Oh – wow."

"It's Ryan's."

"Wow. I'm sorry but – I mean, I don't really know what to say except for – "

"Wow?"

"Exactly."

"No need to apologize. I didn't know what to say either when I first found out except for "shit"."

"When did you find out?"

"A few weeks ago."

She tries to do some math in her head but can't seem to really focus on it so she just bluntly asks. "So you're how far along?"

"Almost 24 weeks."

"Wow."

"I know."

"So you were scared to tell me about it? Why?"

"Because it'd be too real if I had told you sooner."

"But it's real for you now?"

"Yeah, kind of. I guess. I mean, I still can't believe it and I'm still freaking out like crazy but it's definitely more real now. I told Addison and she checked everything out."

"And what did she say? Is everything with the baby okay?"

"As far as she can tell, it is. But I'm still worried. I mean, it's basically a crack baby, you know? Who knows if there's something so wrong with it but Addison just can't see it yet? Or we won't even know until it's born or further down the road?"

Charlotte sighs and empathizes with her friend. She's worried about the same things and she wasn't even using when she conceived. She can only imagine it's a hundred times worse for Amelia. "Listen," she says while taking hold of one of her friend's hands. "I can't guarantee that everything will be fine but you can trust Addison. I know science and technology can't detect everything but have faith that Addison will do everything she can to take care of the both of you. And if there's something wrong, you can deal with it. You'll have everyone around here to help you deal with it."

"Thank you," she says with a little crack in her voice.

"Of course. We'll be here, Amelia. You're not gonna go through any of this alone, y' hear?"

She nods while taking in a deep breath to prevent herself from crying. "Thanks, Charlotte. This is all just so crazy and so unexpected."

"I can imagine you weren't expectin' this at all."

"Believe me, I definitely wasn't."

"Well, neither did I and now we're both headed in the same direction."

"At least you already know you can be a good mom to your baby. I still haven't fully grasped the fact that I'm pregnant let alone that I'm going to be someone's mother."

"You'll be fine, Amelia. More than fine, actually."

"Yeah? How do you know?"

"Because I know you're a good person and the fact that you're worrying so much about this child's health and whether or not you can be good enough for it means that you obviously love it already. I have to believe those things are enough to be a good mother or – or I'll freak out even more about the fact that I'm going to become one too."

"Charlotte, you're already a good one. You're so good with Mason and he's not even really yours. I can only imagine you'll be the same with your own."

"I hope so."

"You will be."

There's silence for a while and then Charlotte turns her head to face Amelia again. "Look at us. Two women who never really planned on doing the whole mommy thing and we're gonna have babies."

"I know. I swear, this is all too crazy."

"It really is."

"Speaking of crazy, how's all the craziness back home? Still crazy or are things getting better with Mason?"

"Slightly less crazy but there's still a lot of crazy in there. Last weekend Mason asked if I was sick and dying too because he noticed the morning sickness."

"Oh man. What'd you say to that?"

"Obviously I told him I wasn't. We couldn't make up some reason or anything either cause he begged us to tell him what was going on. We didn't plan on telling him yet but we had to."

"How'd he take it?"

"I don't know. He didn't really say anything after we told him and so we agreed to just let him think about it and come to us when he wanted to."

"You think he ever will?"

"I hope so. I mean, he's biologically Cooper's kid and not mine so he shouldn't have a problem sharing what he's thinkin'. But lately, it's gotten so hard to get anything out of him and I don't wanna push where I'm not wanted."

"Parenting bites."

"Tell me about it."

It's silent again after that as they turn their heads back to staring at an empty space in Charlotte's office, feet propped up on the coffee table, and one hand slightly placed on their stomachs.


End file.
